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MyPortal in My Living Room?

In the Internet struggle for positioning, the portal players race to become the biggest and most inclusive. As we watch them battle and posture for their positions at the top many questions come to mind. From a shareholder perspective, the big question is when will many of these Internet companies turn profits? A strategy of reinvesting profits for growth is great when it is clear that reaching a certain point will yield a tangible result. The problem is these companies may not know where the top really is or what to expect when they get there. Is it nothing more than size? Number of click-throughs? Products offered or sold? Partners? Subscribers?

Originally, the big players established portals based on the premise that advertising would be the primary revenue stream. As it turns out the commerce revenue streams are growing more rapidly. It is difficult to predict how the portal wars will play out. One thing is for certain, with the constant change in technology and consumer behaviors, any long term strategy seems quite risky.

The Amazon.coms and Yahoos really have their work cut out for them. Attracting and retaining loyalty from novice users is far easier than with the savvy users. Eventually, everyone becomes a net savvy user, then what? As we've seen with FREE-PC.com's recent computer giveaway, hardware is poised to become a true commodity. The information that is collected from the free computer recipients will outweigh the cost of the machine over a short period of time. The ingredients are clearly in place for a hardware based competitor to completely undercut the portal giants in one fell swoop!